The present invention arose from recognition of a long-standing problem in finding the keyhole of a door lock in the dark and guiding a key thereto for unlocking the door. Prior attempts to solve this problem have not, insofar as I am aware, been successful. Providing an electric light fixture near the door is of no help when one has forgotten to turn the light on in advance and access to the light switch cannot be obtained without first unlocking the door. Such an electric fixture is also of no assistance when the bulb is burned out, or the fixture is improperly positioned to illuminate the keyhole. Also, it is undesirable from the standpoint of energy wasteage and cost to leave electric lights turned on to illuminate a keyhole when one may not return for several hours or more.
Further, most people cannot be relied on to carry a flashlight with them just in case it may become necessary to unlock a door in the dark. Moreover, while some people do generally carry matches or the like, it is cumbersome and dangerous to simultaneously manipulate matches and keys, particularly while otherwise engaged in carrying packages or holding open a spring-loaded screen door or the like.
Accordingly, the objects of this invention include provision of:
A keyhole sighting device which both by sight and mechanical guidance assists in finding and directing a key into a keyhole in the dark.
A device, as aforesaid, securable to various key receiving members, such as doorknobs, dead lock bosses, and the like.
A device, as aforesaid, which may be mass produced at relatively low cost as a one-piece member equipped to secure itself fixedly to the key receiving member.
A device, as aforesaid, which additionally cushions a doorknob or the like to reduce injury to persons or things bumping thereinto, and which additionally provides a high-friction gripping surface for engaging and rotating a doorknob by hand.
Other objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons acquainted with apparatus of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.